High speed data communications and the devices that enable such communications have become ubiquitous in modern society. These devices make many users capable of maintaining nearly continuous connectivity to the Internet and other communication networks. Although these high speed data connections are available through telephone lines, cable modems or other such devices that have a physical wired connection, wireless connections have revolutionized our ability to stay connected without sacrificing mobility.
Traditionally, antennas have been defined as metallic devices for radiating or receiving radio waves. The paradigm for antenna design has traditionally been focused on antenna geometry, physical dimensions, material selection, electrical coupling configurations, multi-array design, and/or electromagnetic waveform characteristics such as transmission wavelength, transmission efficiency, transmission waveform reflection, etc. As such, technology has advanced to provide many unique antenna designs for applications ranging from general broadcast of RF signals to weapon systems of a highly complex nature. However, plasma antennas provide far more flexibility in terms of their ability to transmit, receive, filter, reflect and/or refract radiation.
The highly reconfigurable nature of plasma antennas, and the ability to turn the antennas on and off quickly, are advantages relative to metal antennas. However, the fact that plasma antennas require significant amounts of energy to be ionized is a disadvantage. Accordingly, research has been performed to try to reduce the power requirements for plasma antennas in order to overcome this disadvantage. Basic “smart” plasma antennas have been built, but the performance would be much greater if plasma density and input power could be known and controlled.